Overview

Kanday is a small village within the greater Hushe Valley area of Ghanche District — the same Community Controlled Hunting Area region in Gilgit-Baltistan recognized for legal, regulated Himalayan ibex trophy hunting. As with the wider CCHA system across GB, the program here operates on a conservation-first model: a limited number of permits are issued annually through government auction by the GB Wildlife and Parks Department, with revenue split between conservation funding and the local community managing the hunting ground, under the oversight of the Forest, Wildlife & Environment Department, Gilgit-Baltistan.

Himalayan ibex here follow the same seasonal pattern as elsewhere in the region: as winter sets in, they move down from the high summer pastures to lower, more accessible elevations — typically between roughly 2,800m and 4,500m — which is why November through February is generally considered prime season. Trophy quality in this part of the Karakoram tends to be defined more by horn mass than extreme length, with an average trophy in the 36–40 inch range and exceptional specimens reaching higher. The species is listed by the IUCN as “Least Concern,” a status conservationists credit in part to the success of Pakistan’s regulated trophy hunting model, which has helped stabilize and in some areas grow ibex populations by tying their value directly to local community income.